


love me with time

by ColorMeHazelnut



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Getting Together, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-23
Updated: 2018-12-23
Packaged: 2019-09-25 10:13:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17119424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ColorMeHazelnut/pseuds/ColorMeHazelnut
Summary: He opens it to find a link attached with a message that simply says, “Watch with sound :)”Dan has the ability to turn back time, the power to undo his mistakes.That is, until he meets Phil and everything shifts.





	love me with time

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lilithalexandriafox](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilithalexandriafox/gifts).



> Thank you for my beta for being ever so patient with me. 
> 
> To my recipient for this fic exchange fest, I hope you like it! Thank you so much for your prompts. This has been such a wild ride writing for you. I hope you enjoy this :)

To turn back time, having the ability to undo his mistakes, is certainly a blessing for an awkward person like Dan.

He doesn't use much of his powers. He doesn't save the world or use it for saving people heroically like those tv shows.

Dan is lazy by nature and practices just enough to undo his embarrassing moments as if they never happen.

He gets away with it most of the time. It doesn't stop the sudden cringe attacks of what could have happened if he didn't undo his mistakes.

Like the Trolley Incident.

He should've erased that time when he accidentally knocked a whole trolley of papers in front of an office full of his co-workers.

He imagines the faint whisperings like “ _First day on the job and is already as clumsy as heck,”_ and even “ _who hired him? Useless. Utterly useless.”_

His brain stops. Legs shaking from the sudden shock. He knew this would be it. They're going to fire him. Or worse. Mock him for the rest of his life and maybe-

“Hey.”

Dan jumps at the voice cutting through his jumbling thoughts. A hand rests gently on his shoulders, prompting him to lift his head. Dan hasn't realised he is on the ground, fumbling with the scattered papers in his hands.

He meets with a pair of startling blue eyes and a kind smile.

“Hey, it's fine. Happens to all of us once in a while, yeah?”

Dan tries to clear his throat, giving the man a tight smile, “Yeah. Yes, of course.”

The man is already crouching beside him. Dan tries to remember who he is. He can't. Probably not from his department then.

When he sees the man reaching for the folders, his eyes widens, “No!” The man freezes, and Dan wants to hit himself even more.

He backtracks and tries again, fumbling along his words, “I mean this is my mess you don't need to-”

“We'll just get it done faster right?” The man reassures him kindly. He goes back to picking up the mess.

Dan sees no room for argument. He is getting help from a co-worker kind enough to see his pitiful state and who decides to sacrifice a few minutes of their time for him. Dan takes what he can get and later hopes to bury himself in his work. Possibly to avoid this man for all eternity.

They both settle to pick up the papers in silence.

“Are you new here? I'm Phil by the way. I believe we haven't met.”

Dan nods before noticing the man is too busy sorting the papers to see his jerky response. “Yeah. Uh, hi Phil. I started about a week ago actually.”

This is pointless. An awkward conversation he never wanted to have on his second week of work. Maybe he should just close his eyes and start again maybe ten? Twenty minutes ago?

“That's great!” Phil keeps on smiling. Why is he smiling? “It's nice to have a fresh face around here eventually.”

“I'm sure they're expecting a much less clumsier staff.”

To his surprise, Phil lets out a chuckle, “Oh this?” His hands waves at the mess around them. “This is nothing compared to what I could do.”

Phil shuffles and puts another stack of folders into the trolley. Dan hopes they won't be reorganizing the papers too. His eyes trails down along Phil's back to his long legs as he bends down to push away the boxes. Dan swallows, watching the back muscles ripple under Phil's shirt. Beside his strange alien looking head, he has such a nice back.

And ass. His ass looks good too.

Oh god.

“Really? What can you do that tops this?”

Dan snaps his eyes back when Phil turns around, giving Dan a toothy grin.

“I almost set the printer on fire when I was supposed to refill the paper,” Phil tells him smugly, arms crossing his chest, looking far too proud for himself.

Dan barks out a laughter, “And how did you manage that?”

Phil follows suit, lets out a giggle, which Dan does not find endearing. Like at all. “Come on, as they all say in the olden times, everyone is a penguin sometimes.”

“What?” Dan snorts out, “Why penguins? And they don't say that. Nobody says that.”

“Because penguins are the clumsiest animals on the planet.” Phil nods seriously, while the corner of his lips quirks up slightly. “And they do say that. Must have lost its way since the aliens wiped our memories during the invasion.”

Dan lets out another laugh and shakes his head at the ridiculousness. Here he was in the middle of the office, having one of the quirkiest conversation with a very cute co-worker after pushing a whole trolley in front of everyone.

And he thought he had to erase this timeline from his sheer embarrassment.

Before he could even reply, Mr Thompson walks by and prompts the two men to hurry up with the cleaning. Dan hurriedly shoves the folders and papers back into place. They both set the trolley upright and walk back towards their respective desks.

Dan didn't get a chance to find out Phil's department.

But sometime after lunch, he receives a notification on his laptop from what could be an email from Phil.

He opens it to find a link attached with a message that simply says, “ _Watch with sound :)_ ”

Dan finds himself giggling over penguin compilations all afternoon.

If anybody would ask about his red cheeks, he would show them the video of the sliding birds on ice instead.

 

* * *

 

“Hey, it's you.”

Dan nearly spits out his coffee. It's been too long (two weeks) since he heard that voice. He was afraid he'd forget.

He nearly falls out of his chair when he finds Phil already so close to his desk.

“It's me.” Dan clears his throat. “You're Phil.”

Phil nods, smiling wider, “I am Phil.”

“You're the one who help me with the trolley thing.”

“I am the Phil. No other Phils than me.”

Dan tilts his head, “Are there any other Phils?”

Phil takes out his fingers, counting off one as he speaks, “There is one Phil in Management, but he is a Phillip.” Phil nods seriously.

“But I am more of a one L kinda guy. Less lip, more of the ip.”

Dan lets out a breath of laughter, and doesn't miss how his eyes dart at Phil's lips before they quickly climb back up.

“Well Phil with one less L,” Dan holds out his hand. Phil takes it, his brows furrowing, before Dan shakes it. “Nice to properly meet you. I'm Dan.”

“I know,” came the immediate response. Phil blushes, stutters out, “I-I mean I wanted to send that video so I had to find out who you are. I'm sorry. That's sounds a bit-”

“Stalker-ish?” Dan grins.

Phil squeaks, turning much redder, “Yes, I'm sorry. You didn't reply back so I thought-”

“It's fine Phil.” Dan smiles warmly. He feels extremely endeared by the man's nervousness.

“It made my day, thank you.” Dan lets out a snort, “I didn't even know penguins can be that clumsy.”

“They are. I'm glad you like them,” Phil smiles shyly. He shuffles his feet, and says “Anyways. That's not really why I'm here.” Phil steps in closer, his arms moving around.

It suddenly feels too warm. The mug of coffee in his hands begins to shake.

“Not that I didn't want to see you, because I wanted to see you again.” Dan blushes. See him again? Him?

Phil stampers, waving his hands around and shakes his head, “Sorry that's sounds awfully creepy but I always wanted to ask you, and only if you want to that is. I was gonna ask if you'll like to go out-”

The coffee mug slips from his hands, smashes onto the floor into tiny pieces.

A second ticks by.

Then two.

No. Oh no.

Their eyes met. Dan feels the familiar pressure building at the back of his eyelids.

Phil reaches out, “Dan are you-”

A sudden flash and Phil stops mid sentence. Dan looks around and the whole office is frozen. Standstill.

Dan cups his face in his hands, breathes in deeply.

It's fine. It's fine.

He can do this. He just had to dial back a few minutes, move the mug somewhere safe, and let Phil finish his…

Dan hopes he hasn't misheard him. He hopes he could erase this embarrassment.

He closes his eyes. Rewinds back time.

“Not that I didn't want to see you, because I wanted to see you again.” Dan looks down and frowns at the mug that nearly betrayed him.

Phil stampers, waving his hands around and shakes his head, “Sorry that's sounds awfully creepy, but I always wanted to ask you, and only if you want to that is.”

He is ready. Another disaster avoided. Dan places the mug as far away from him as possible.

“I was gonna ask…”

Dan finally turns, “Yes?”

He sees Phil swallows, his fingers twitching by his side. “I was gonna ask if that's the correct email address.” He blurts out.

What?

“What?” He asks. “Of course it is. I got your videos-”

“Great!” Phil claps his hands. “Gotta make sure.” He turns away, “I see you're quite busy Dan. Sorry to bother you.”

“Wait!”

Just like that Phil scurries away. Ears tinted red.

Dan wants to scream. That wasn't supposed to happen. Phil was suppose to finish talking. He suppose to finally ask him out.

Was that supposed to happen?

There's another option. Dan groans out loud.

He resets the time and lets the mug slips from his hands, watching it shatter.

“Dan are you ok?”

Phil's brows are furrowing.

“Yeah, yeah I'm fine. Clumsy me being that idiot again.”

“It's fine don't worry.” Phil bends down, picking up the shards.

“If it makes you feel better we could pretend this never happened.”

Dan pauses, looking at Phil who smiles back encouragingly.

“Like,” Dan shyly asks. “Rewind back time?”

Phil laughs, “Yes! Alright. Forgotten. This never happened.”

Dan joins in as well, “Now. What were you saying?”

“Me?”

“Yes.” Dan nods.

“Oh.” The color returns on both of Phil's cheeks. “I was wondering if you would like to go to my new year's party.”

That's unexpected. “Party?”

“Yeah. I wanted you to come. Be my guest of honour.”

Dan throws away the shards into his wastebasket. Pretending to think. “Guest of honour eh?”

“Please?” Phil clasps both of his hands, eyes shining with an adorable pout on his lips.

And how is he supposed to say no to that?

 

* * *

 

When Dan steps into the house, Christmas songs (it's the 31st excuse me?) are blasting from the speakers and there is a sea of people wearing ridiculous hats. He wants to turn around and leave, get cozy up in his own apartment, wrapped in his sad pimp blanket and watch the fireworks from his neighbour's window reflection.

He never wanted to rewind the time so badly up until now.

Someone taps him roughly on the shoulder. Dan swivels only to have a colorful drink shoved into his hands. He fumbles with it, thanks his...co-worker? He squints past the bright lights flashing in the room, trying to remember their face from what could be his department. He doesn't.

He doesn't even remember the names of the faces he recognises. The same faces he sees at 8 in the morning passing by his desk until he leaves work at 5 in the evening.

He sips the drink, a nasty mixture of black and deep red, and nearly blanches. There's a hint of mango somewhere, but he doesn't want to decipher it any longer. He needs the sink. And another drink that will make him at least somewhat drunk.

“Daniel!”

Dan freezes, takes a deep breath because this interaction will take a whole ton and maybe more for his poor introverted soul to handle.

“Mr Thompson! Fancy seeing you here.” Dan reaches for a handshake, and winces as his bones silently break from the firm grip.

“You too! I didn't know you were invited. Let alone come to parties. You usually skip them all.”

Dan grimaces, trying not to feel the guilt swelling up from declining Mr Thompson’s invitation to his last week’s dinner party.

“Ah but a new year, a new start right?” He raise his glass. “Maybe I should start socializing out more next year.”

Mr Thompson barks out a hearty laughter from his belly, “You should, you should! No need to stay inside on Friday nights. You're young!”

Mr Thompson claps Dan's back, staggering the man and almost spilling his fancy, horrible drink onto the carpet, “Get out there and have fun! I mean what do people do on Friday nights? Sleep early?”

“Contemplate the meaning of life and cry yourself to sleep I guess,” Dan says under his breath.

It takes a few seconds for the words to catch up to his brain. When it does, Dan's eyes widen and his cheeks burns with embarrassment.

“Umm.” He hopes the music is loud enough to drown his self deprecating slip up from his boss.

“Ha ha!” Mr Thompson coughs out.

Apparently not. Great.

“You young people and your jokes. I'll never get your sense of humour.”

“Me too. Young people and the jokes! Ha ha!” Dan rocks in his heels, a nervous energy buzzing inside him. He wants to escape from this conversation. “I don't understand them all!”

Mr Thompson furrows his brows, confused. Dan starts to feels the heat spreading from his neck. Sweat is covering his palm, even the coolness from the drink can't ground him anymore.

“Anyways,” he says a tad too loudly. “I'm gonna go over there now. I think I see Phil and I want to thank him for the invite.”

Mr Thompson never looked so relieved, “Of course, of course. Go say hi to him!”

Dan nods, stiffly. He wants to turn. Really. That's all. He wants to find a dark corner or maybe hide in the kitchen for a reasonable amount of time before it is polite to leave.

He doesn't expect his foot to catch a corner of the fancy rug underneath their feet. He doesn't expect his gangly weird body to do any backflips and a somersault just for the extra attention.

No.

What happens is simply what his brain has been dreading all night.

He's lost his balance from the rug. His horrible, might be mango flavor drink slips from his hands. All its gross content lands on Mr Thompson. When Dan opens his eyes he finds himself on his butt in the middle of the floor. His eyes land on his boss, who is standing there looking just as shock.

Nearby people stops and look. Conversation halts around them.

Dan wants the ground to swallow him whole. Maybe he would get fired first before that could ever happen.

“W-what?” Mr Thompson finally sputters out.

Or maybe it would never happen at all.

“I can fix it!” Dan frantically jumps from the floor.

He grabs a hold of Mr Thompson's shoulders, “I'll go back and make sure this whole conversation won't be as awkward.” He gestures towards the dripping mess, “And this? I'll make sure it never happens, ok?”

“Uh, ok? But Daniel-”

Dan claps his hands loudly, the crowds is still staring. Judging. Whispering. They would have a laugh tomorrow at work. A new gossip to talk about once Dan steps out from the office, jobless.

“Ok good!” He steps back and collect his thoughts. Reaching out to that familiar pressure at the back of his head. Playing back the scene that just happen five minutes ago.

“This won't hurt you at all. In fact, you won't even remember it.”

An invisible bubble forms around him and the world it set to pause. Dan takes a deep breath. Concentrating. Rewinding back time.

From his bubble, he sees the spilt drink collect itself back into his cup. Mr Thompson's shirt is no longer soaked. People are walking backwards, slowly. Unaware of this strange phenomenon.

Dan pauses when he sees Mr Thompson reaching to clap his back. He takes a deep breath, and slowly releases his control, letting time move forward once again.

“Get out there and have fun! I mean what do people do on Friday nights? Sleep early?”

Dan lets out an appropriate laugh.

“Well, I better find Phil to thank him for the invite.”

“Of course, of course. I think I saw him by the mini bar. He has a mini bar!” Mr Thompson eyes widens gleefully. “I think I even saw a pool at the back as well. A lively house he has!”

Dan casts a brief sad look at the wilted houseplants by the door.

“I'll check out the pool too then. See you around, Mr Thompson?”

“See you, see you!” He waves and Dan scurries away.

He feels the slight throbbing at the back of his eyelids. It happens once in a while when he turns back time.

 

* * *

 

“Dan!”

Dan jumps and founds himself wrapped into a pair of warm arms.

“You came!” Phil exclaims, as he pulls back, eyes bright. He has a weird looking triangular hat perched loopsidely on his head.

“Of course I did. I can't believe you invited me.” He still doesn't.

“Of course I would invite you.” Phil's eyes softens. “I wanted you to come.”

Dan feels his heart skip a beat. He averts his gaze somewhere else. Somewhere less... distracting.

“I like your hat.”

“Oh!” Phil takes it off; his quiff flops messily. “It's a hat party. Didn't I mention that?” He runs his fingers through his hair, trying to fix it.

Dan slaps his hands away, runs his own hands through his hair, “Your hair looks fine, stop worrying,” he reassures him. “And what hat party. You didn't say anything when you came by my desk.”

He sees Phil's skin colour, despite the horrible lighting, “I was a bit,” he coughs. “I was distracted.”

Dan lifts an eyebrow, feeling mischievous, “And why would you be, Mister Lester?”

Phil shrugs, appearing nonchalant, “I don't know, Mister Howell. It may perhaps be the cute co-worker I was talking to. He was very charming in my opinion. A bit clumsy too.”

Dan snorts, lips twitching as he refuses to even give a slight hint he's smiling. He hopes Phil can't hear the sounds of his heart fluttering.

He lifts the drink to distract himself, giving his hands something to do, only to nearly spit it out again. Who in their right mind made this monstrosity?

“Ahh, you're drinking my creation!” Phil claps his hands excitedly.

Dan could not believe his ears, “You made this?”

“How does it taste? I've been practicing all week.”

“It tastes like shit, Phil,” his mouth responds automatically. Before his brain starts to panic, Phil lets out a bark of laughter.

“Oh god, please tell me you didn't drink a whole lot.”

“You little prankster.” Dan points at the drink then points at Phil, both grinning widely, “You dare poison me?” Dan gasps, eyes widening dramatically.

Phil puts a hand over his heart, “I did no such thing! I merely made you a tasty drink as my guest of honour.”

Phil pulls his hands, leading them towards the back. He opens the sliding door, and they both slip outside into a much cooler, less crowded space.

“Is this how you treat your guests of honour?” Dan says playfully. He jabs his elbow into Phil's side.

Phil elbows him back and tries to move away before pressing even closer. He lowers his eyelids, looking at Dan almost too fondly, “Only the special ones.”

Now how is he supposed to respond to that?

They walk in silence. His heart his hammering in his chest.

“Got any new year's resolution ready?”

Phil purses his lips, “Yeah, I was hoping to keep it.”

Curious, he asks, “What is it?”

Phil shoots back, “What's yours?”

“To look forward to the future, I guess,” Dan answers immediately. “To expect more of the unexpected. Now tell me yours.” He bumps his shoulders against Phil playfully.

“Cheesy,” Phil teases back. “I guess mine is to ask this cute guy I've been eyeing for a while out.”

“Really? That's your resolution?” Dan pretends to scoff. “Lame.”

“Oh really?” Phil challenges. He takes a step forward towards Dan.

“And how do you suppose I get on with it then?” He smirks.

“Just ask him.” They're chest to chest. Dan holds his breath, waiting.

“I don't know. Do you think he'll date me?” Phil whispers, eyes half lidded.

“Yes,” Dan says breathlessly. “As lame as it is, who wouldn't want to date you?”

“Then,” Phil takes both of their hands together. “Would you, Mister Howell, clumsiest man I've met other than myself, will you do the honors of going on a date with me?”

Dan smiles, feeling the nervousness, the anxiety of the future, of the unknown. He'd usually cowers at the sight of anything that made his heart beat uncomfortably twice as fast. He pulls back time, making others forget. Taking away moments and wipe Dan's existence out from the timeline.

But with Phil? Maybe he's willing to try. Maybe he wants this risk with Phil. Maybe, as he glance back at this man, currently wearing a ridiculous hat with such lively personality, who makes horrible drinks, who has the calmest voice and the warmest smiles.

For the first time, maybe Dan wants time to move forward with Phil.

He squeezes their hands, smiling back, “Absolutely.”

**Author's Note:**

> :)


End file.
